Aaron Rankin

9.0

Nice match for Dover Sole in brown butter. — 4 years ago

Stephen Dodson

8.9

Cheese match — 6 years ago

Mark E

9.7

Great but couldn’t match up to the mind blowing 1964 Reserva from two weeks ago. Should have had this one first. — 6 years ago

Scott Zeitzer

9.1

A great Rioja! Hey beautiful balance of body acidity tannins. Bright cherry notes with leather undertones. Match very well with a grilled steak. — 7 years ago

with Renee

Chris England

9.3

The latest newly released 904 vintage 🎉

What do you folks think of the new more modern label? Personally I find it too modern for an old world wine 😁 but the great news is the contents are still superb 🎉

We killed 3 bottles of this at the weekend & alas I didn’t take notes, so will do so next time, but it had the typical old world LRA 904 nose with a fab well balanced yummy body that should match the 04/05 in quality given a few years 👍

LRA does it again 👏
Incredible quality @£38 ✅
93 going 94-96 — 8 years ago

Patrick V

9.4

Love it when a plan comes together - cooking chicken fajitas and pesto macaroni for twelve and the loverliest Chard to hop along for the festivities on a hot summer eve. The balance in acidity and fruit is immaculate! Best match of the summer so far. — 8 years ago

Fin Jams

9.0

Pretty darn good for something below $25. West Cape Howe, you've done it again. — 8 years ago

Martin Sher

9.4

Delicious! Big match stick on the nose, followed by tangerine and peaches. — 4 years ago

Kim Cusmano

9.4

Delicious. Smells of blueberry and minerals. Strong tannins. Fragrant. Yum yum yum. Plenty of alcohol to get the boys buzzin. — 6 years ago

Joseph Barsky

9.5

2013 Vintage. 15.3% Alcohol. A GSM of 53%/31%/16% this Vintage. Glenrose/Caliza/Jada Vineyards. Just lovely mouthfeel with complexity and good finish. — 7 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

‘Las Alturas' Spanish for 'the heights', a fitting name, this vineyard located on one of the highest grape-growing benches in the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA. Deep Ruby (darkest Pinot almost looks like a Cab with a nose and tastes to match), aromas of ripe berries and spice notes. The palate shows rich blackberry and cherry flavors with cedar and cacao. Rich soft tannins, firm acidity on lingering finish ending with oaky tones. Nice! — 7 years ago

Cody Short

9.4

One of the best domestic white wines I’ve had in some time. — 8 years ago

Greg Ballington

Co-Founder of Millennial Drinkers Wine Blog

9.3

Day five on the cruise and this night at Giovanni's Table, the Italian restaurant, aboard the Allure of the Seas. We decided to open up two South African beauties for this.

Deep ruby red with a slight garnet hue on the edges. Layered nose with dark cocoa, floral notes, dark berries and spices. Some classic 'South African' chalk as well. Medium plus tannins (6.5/10) and medium plus to full bodied. Dusty dark black cherries on the attack with some black currants, dark spices, a touch earthy, vanilla and some nutmeg. Seems quite restrained and reserved but well integrated as well. Dry and long finish. Drink till 2037.

Third time trying this limited bottling by De Toren Private Cellars with only 1,132 bottles produced in the 2013 vintage. This wine is made through the use of extreme winemaking techniques such as extreme cropping, extensive hand sorting, 200% new French oak for a total of 18 months and unfiltered. You are probably wondering how it can be 200%? This is done by aging the wine in 100% new French oak barrels for twelve months before transferring them to another set of 100% new French oak barrels for six additional months. — 8 years ago

with India and Sean

Leslie Bartos

9.6

Incredible nose of cherry, cedar, leather and a flavor profile to match after a 3 hr decant. Opened up more over next 2 -3 hours. All in perfect balance- power, finesse and acidity. 15-20 more years easily 👍🏼👍🏼 — 9 years ago

with Tony

Mike Saviage

9.6

Tasted blind. Medium gold. Notes of lemon, dirty white stones, marzipan, some honey. Floral. In the mouth it shows its intensity with great fruit to match. Fine grained acidity. Memorable finish. Memorable wine. — 5 years ago

Carter Snead

9.4

Book night!! — 6 years ago

with Leigh

Isaac Pirolo

9.7

It’s usually a good sign when the winemaker can articulate what the wine is about like this: “Ceras is Botanica’s counterpoint. Its color is more purple than red. It is more about minerals and herbs than fruit and flowers. It is a focused and elegant distillation of rock rather than an opulent cascade of fruit. It is an expression of the geology that lays beneath our land, the tart blue fruits of the coast range and the tender herbs that one finds amongst the trees and mushrooms of the Northwest forest.”

Her 2013 Ceras is yet another example of Maggie Harrison’s sorcery over the vines at Antica Terra. The focus and intensity of flavor is off the charts, yet it maintains an almost ethereal weightlessness, only emphasizing the layer of silk that separates you from the wine. The pungent rock is so on point and distinctive it instantly reminded me of the scent of lichen growing on rocks, which I experienced in Colorado when I was 7 or 8 years old. This sets the stage for the level of complexity exhibited. The fruit has both an extraordinarily high level of purity and yet the woven tapestry of herbs and spices and even fruit blending are impossible not to notice. The key being that nothing is forced.

The nuance of complexity only being noticed when desired is nearly an impossible feat. I can’t help but recall James Conaway quoting Andy Beckstoffer in his recently released book: Napa at Last Light: America’s Eden in an Age of Calamity. “If a wine was a model with a chipped tooth, you’d have to give her something to compensate with. If she needs better shoulders, better breasts, give her some. But her real charm is in how she carries the defect.”

After reading his book, I can tell you I’m definitely not certain whether you can accept his quotes verbatim. One thing is certain, though, Maggie Harrison’s Antica Terra wines carry the defect like no other. — 7 years ago

Michael Meyer

9.3

2001 SuperTuscan heavyweight match with Tignanello vs Flaccianello. This one got off to a slow start in the early rounds with a muted nose and flat palate, but after a couple hours was sparring vigorously with its dark well-extracted fruit, tobacco, and suede. Was it enough to take the title? Perhaps not, as I think the aromatics were never quite up to the task - but bravo ragazzo! — 8 years ago

Brendan Baker

9.4

Cork crumbled but wine was sound! Needed a bit of air. Struck match, lemon curd, marzipan, minerality, med + acid, long finish. — 8 years ago

LM Segal

9.2

Rock solid Chablis, crisp. Minerality and orange zest. Perfect match for lemon-seared scallops served cold. Nice find @Chris Young! — 9 years ago

with Mark, Joe and 1 other